Almost a month apart from Greg Biffle’s passing, a pall of emotion hovers over the NASCAR world. Drivers and fans alike pay tribute to the late NASCAR legend and humanitarian in their own ways. However, Biffle’s closest aide in his final years is taking forward the racing campaign that the two of them established in 2025.
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Cleetus McFarland has decided to carry forward the racing mission he shared with Greg Biffle, who became more than a mentor figure to him in recent times. Even after the legend’s tragic passing, he’s made it clear that he wants to continue on Biffle’s ideals, and Mark Martin has nothing but admiration for this spirit.
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“Racing is not something right on the top of my list, but I love what he’s doing for the sport. I don’t know him personally, but he’s doing great things for the sport. He’s got a huge following, and it’s cool to see him dipping his toe into NASCAR, into the big league,” Mark Martin said recently about Cleetus McFarland on the Mark Martin Archive podcast.
McFarland, aka Garrett Mitchell, debuted in the ARCA Menards Series in 2025. He competed in four races, notably picking up two top-ten finishes – 10th at Talladega Superspeedway and 9th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. And these remarkable starts would not have been possible without Greg Biffle’s help. The 19-time Cup race winner was guiding McFarland, a close friend of his, to achieve his racing dreams.
Greg Biffle passed away with his family in a tragic plane crash on December 18th. Waves of anguish hit the NASCAR community, but probably affected McFarland the most. Biffle was on his way to meet with McFarland, somebody with whom Biffle had delivered relief aid when Hurricane Helene hit.
After the tragedy, McFarland admitted that he wanted to give up racing. However, he persevered with his drive, imbuing and upholding Biffle’s humanitarian ideals.
“I’ll admit to you guys that a month ago when everything happened, I didn’t want to ever step foot in a NASCAR garage again. I didn’t want to race. Now that some time has passed. I have realized what would The Biff want. He would want me to continue racing and trying to climb the ladder in NASCAR.”
McFarland explained how he and Biffle had mapped out a step-by-step path to reach the Daytona 500. It had to start from ARCA, then move through the Truck Series and Xfinity (O’Reilly) Series, and finally the Cup Series. With that groundwork complete, he now feels ready to achieve the goal they planned together.
And that amazes Mark Martin.
“Blue collar. That’s who he’s appealing to. That’s our core race fan. And NASCAR got away from appealing to the blue-collar race fan. And Cleetus is just fun. I mean, he’s fun. And he’s real and real down to earth, and he’s fun, and that’s why he’s a star,” Mark Martin continued.
Cleetus McFarland delivered a heartfelt tribute to Biffle during the annual preseason ARCA Menards Series test. The rear quarter panel of his No. 30 Rette Jones Racing Ford carried a message: “Be Like Biff.”
As Cleetus McFarland copes with the tragic loss of his friend, Mark Martin also recalled times with his former teammate.
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Scraping the law
The late Greg Biffle had plenty of wonderful memories. Some of them were spent with Mark Martin, with whom he raced for four years as a teammate. Biffle drove the No. 16 Ford, while Martin wheeled the No. 6 under the Roush banner.
Recently, a picture of Biffle racing at Darlington Raceway in 2005 went viral on social media. What people were curious about was how much lower his car sat compared to the rest of the field. And Martin explained the reason.
“Greg and Doug (Richert) had this thing worked out where they could get their left front lower than anyone else at Roush,” Mark Martin said. “They had a 450 lb. left front spring that would travel a lot. All of us had one of those. But Doug had figured out a way for it to slip around in the bucket a little bit and get even extra low.”
Mark Martin further explained, “The No. 16 car was always scrutinized more heavily than any of the other teams. We were not brave enough to try to replicate that with the No. 6 car. But it was fun because you could see it clearly right there on the racetrack.”
Greg Biffle’s memory still remains alive in NASCAR. And Mark Martin is cheering for Cleetus McFarland, who is immortalizing his legacy.
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